News for Inventors

When Mark Zuckerberg first launched his Open Graph
API at the last Facebook F8 Conference in 2010, it was clear that a
paradigm shift was set in motion- one that would revolutionize
advertising - but more importantly one that would transform monetary
transactions across the Web. But could it possibly replace the
dollar, euro or yuan?

Thirteen when he applied for his first patent, Kansan Zachary Smith just
received it at the age of 15. His invention? A sports chair that comes
with its own blanket and carrying case that apparently no one had
thought of before. Now, with patent in hand, Smith is looking to make
the most of it.

Google's acquisitions of AdMob Inc. and DoubleClick
boosted the search giant's online services while the government held
back from challenging its encroachment on competition. But with Google's recent acquisition of ITA Software, online travel agencies (OTAs) are pressuring the US Justice Department to support an anti-trust suit against Google to block the purchase.

Kaylene Kau,
a recent graduate from the industrial design department at the University of Washington was challenged by a professor to 'push the
boundaries of prosthetic design.' So she did, and here, inspired by the
fluid movements of an octopus's arms, is her multi-jointed Prosthetic Arm.

One inventor, Andrew Lewis of Harlem, has come up with a way to keep the eyesore saggies above the butt.
It was a trend many of us hoped would go away, but it has actually
caught 'on fire' in urban neighborhoods. Saggy pants. The fat
workman's 'crack,' so often hyperbolized as the height of grossness, is now considered fashion among school kids and even those in their twenties!

Your power strip has six power outlets, but strangely, you cannot insert more than three or four power plugs at a time. The outlets are all meant for the standard two or three pronged plug, but as we know there are any number of adapters that depend on electric power, and they take up a lot more room than a regular lamp plug. With 709 inventors contributing, Quirky's Pivot Power creates an elegant solution.

Get your inventions ready for Season 4 of the Emmy award-winning show, Everyday Edisons.
Sorry, the casting directors are not coming to a city near you this
year.... You're going to them... via the Internet. That's right.
Season 4 casting will be conducted online through Edison Nation.

Dean Kamen, best known for the invention of the Segway personal transporter, will co-host an 8-part series on invention starting tomorrow, October 22, 2010, for Planet Green on the Discovery Channel. The series, titled Dean of Invention, was named for and after Kamen, as he is now holds more than 400 patents himself. Though inspiring for all, Dean of Invention is intended to inspire young persons to enter science and math so that they can be a part of shaping their own futures.

This Fall the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA) has selected its first Student Ambassador
team, a group of exceptional students at 14 universities that are
charged with encouraging and leading the creation of socially beneficial
technologies and bringing them to commercialization. No easy feat, but
the NCIIA will give them plenty of support.

There were 15 finalists in the previous round of the 2010 James Dyson
international design contest and now there is but one: Samuel Adeloju
for his invention of the LONGREACH Buoyancy Deployment System. Though
the system looks like a sawed-off bazooka and the supposed emergency
person operating it is depicted as warrior from Second Life, LONGREACH's
highly explosive warhead is actually a rescue device.

Edyeglass technology hasn't advance very much since the 19th century... until now. TruFocals, soon to be re-branded Superfocus,
are the coolest things in prescription eyeglasses since Benjamin
Franklin made his own. In fact, they are designed just like Franklin's
glasses.

Coming from a long tradition of providing quality news-reporting over the course of the last century, the venerable New York Times
is not one to fade easily into legacy newspaper oblivion. This week, it
was announced that the Gray Lady will be re-inventing itself with a new
personalized news service, called News.me.

Cadbury,
the world famous chocolate and candy maker, needs a new wrapper, a
revolutionary one that keeps chocolate from melting when exposed to
high temperatures. While you are at it, invent a wrapper that keeps
humans from melting in hot temperatures.